Researchers have made T-rays into a much stronger directional beam than was previously thought possible — and have done so at room-temperature conditions. This is a breakthrough that should allow future T-ray systems to be smaller, more portable, easier to operate, and much cheaper than current devices.
Scientists said the T-ray scanner and detector could be capable of detecting biological phenomena such as increased blood flow around tumorous growths. Future scanners could also perform fast wireless data communication to transfer a high volume of information on the measurements it makes.
T-rays are waves in the far infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum that have a wavelength hundreds of times longer than those that make up visible light. Current T-ray imaging devices are very expensive and operate only at a low output power, since creating the waves consumes large amounts of energy and needs to take place at very low temperatures.
The new technique, developed by researchers from the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore and Imperial College London in the UK, demonstrated that it is possible to produce a strong beam of T-rays by shining light of differing wavelengths on a pair of electrodes – two pointed strips of metal separated by a 100-nanometer gap on top of a semiconductor wafer. The structure of the tip-to-tip nano-sized gap electrode greatly enhances the THz field and acts like a nano-antenna to amplify the wave generated.
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Also: Learn about scanning terahertz heterodyne imaging systems.
